


That one day

by rollerskating_salmon_that_fell



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rollerskating_salmon_that_fell/pseuds/rollerskating_salmon_that_fell
Summary: One day, every year, Husk wakes up early for a very special reason. And no, it's not Christmas.It's something far, far worse.
Relationships: Alastor & Husk (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know it's incredibly short, i apologise.

Husk was sat behind the bar- as per usual. However, he was up unusually early this morning, but he couldn’t remember why. Everything was normal. It certainly seemed so anyway: Niffty cleaning like the world was about to end if she didn’t; Angel reading what Husk hoped was just the newspaper and Charlie and Vaggie, having a rather stressed-sounding conversation about where Alastor was.  
Oh no.  
It was today.  
Now Husk knew why he was up so early. It only happened one day a year, every year, without fail.  
Husk sprinted up the stairs, everyone snapping their heads to see what was happening, eyes wide. They needn’t know though.  
He reached the sixth floor only to be engulfed in a chocking wash of static. Yep, it was definitely today. The atmosphere up here was so thick it felt like it was physically trying to get him away- mind you, it probably was. But Alastor evidently knew him better than to stop as the lock to the very red, staticky door clicked open.  
He turned the handle, creaking the door open to find stuff all over the floor- shredded to bits. Husk couldn’t actually tell what it was but it was most likely a bit of everything. Alastor was sat in the corner, curled up with tears welling up in his eyes. Husk softly yet swiftly walked over to him, sitting down and lifting his arm up to allow Alastor to lean into him.  
And he did.  
“Shh, shh, hey. You can let your smile down, it’s only me,” Husk told him gently.  
And he did.  
He let the tears fall freely down his face now, his dearest Husker rubbing comforting circles on his shaking back. They sat there for a while. Probably hours, even. Just sitting there, with Husk comforting this strange twig of a man who was currently weeping into his furry shoulder. Until after one conclusive sniffle, the man in red finally sat up. He was still shaking and his ears were drooped. He made a meek attempt at a smile to show control but it stumbled and fell. After that he just looked away.  
“Do you wanna talk about it?” came Husk’s gentlest voice again.  
The reply he got was a quick shake of the head.  
“Do you wanna go for a walk?”  
An even quicker shake of the head.  
“Do you wanna cook somethin’?”  
A pause.  
And then, a small, hesitant nod.  
They made sure to make their way to the kitchen through the back way so no one would ask any questions. They reached the kitchen, hand in hand, and cooked a frivolous amount of food- enough to feed the entirety of Hell- wearing matching aprons.  
When everybody sat down for dinner that evening, the room was filled to the brim with Charlie, Vaggie and Angel’s confusion. Only Niffty would know what was going on aside from Husk, she was the only one other than him to have known Alastor for long enough.  
And no one else would ever find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a night at the bar to comfort Alastor, something makes everything worse

And no one else would ever find out.  
Pshh! Yeah, right. It’s as if you’d think that no one would ask. No one would pester. No one would follow it up.  
It’s as if you’d think Charlie wouldn’t come home with a stray puppy she had rescued today.  
Wait, what?!  
Yeah, a dog. Oh no, no no no, not a dog. Yep- that’s the first thing Husk saw after waking up. After a night at the bar with Alastor; after another year of that. A dog. The very thing that had been wrong yesterday- his death.  
On the anniversary of each sinner’s death, that sinner will relive every moment- and not just mental trauma as you may be thinking, no, they physically relive every moment of it- everything that they felt in that moment that they said goodbye to the Earth, they felt on that one day, to the second. Yeah, ok, for the vast majority of people, it would hurt like hell (pun not intended), but for Alastor- he had been shredded to bits by six dogs and dragged around the snow until finally the police shot him, having finally caught their murderer.  
Charlie had been walking rather slowly after another day of failing to find any new patrons. As she walked past a small, narrow alleyway, she had heard a scared little whimper. Compelled to investigate- because that’s just what Charlie does- she found a stray puppy trapped under some rubbish.   
And of course, she just had to bring it home.  
Vaggie rushed to the door to greet her and Angel to greet the new pet. Husk stood, frozen. Not today, no, please, no. Alastor was always a little shaken in the days around this time of year- he didn’t need this too.  
He only broke out of his frozen state when a familiar radio voice sounded beside him, greeting him on this “fine morning”, as it had said. He looked around to see the owner of said radio voice was his beloved, Alastor. Alastor had by now seemed to notice that something was up, as he was looking in the direction Husk had been. It was now Alastor’s turn to freeze. And then he started to shake. His smile was wavering; his ears had drooped (only a little, but still a significant amount); and his eyes had a thin, barely visible sheen of water coating them. The radio static in the air increased drastically, causing both to have their fur stand on end. Alastor spun on his heels and walked off and up to his room- a lot faster than usual- slamming and locking the door shut.  
Husk immediately and miraculously woke up from his hungover daze to attempt to calm Al down. Only when he opened the door with the spare key he had snagged a while back, Alastor was nowhere to be found. Husk literally upended his room to look for Al: searching in and under the bed, in the wardrobe and even under all of the stuff on the floor- yes that was still there. After finding himself unsuccessful, Husk then continued his search throughout the hotel- causing everybody else to wonder why, he, of all people, was running. After all, under normal circumstances, he would barely even move at all- wow, he really was a cat wasn’t he?  
Kitchen? No. Dining room? No. Even Husk’s room? No. Alastor was nowhere in the hotel. Now for the rest of hell; this was certainly going to take a while. Husk checked in the bar they usually go to together, the restaurants Alastor likes, the park (if you could call it that) and even- to Husk’s great annoyance- the Cannibal Colony. Husk also made sure to check the news to see if he had gone to do a broadcast or start a battle with Vox or Valentino. Last place on the list: his house. This probably should have been the place Husker looked first but he was too worried to be able to think straight. Now all he had to do was try and find it. At least his wings could be good for some things. It took around 15 minutes of flying around before Husk saw a small house with a few deer-themed objects in and around the garden. That was certainly the most likely option out of all of the other houses he had seen. The door was even the same red as Alastor’s coat too. Husk was really hoping it was just paint.  
As he landed, he knew that this was definitely Al’s house because there was a faint hum of radio static and Alastor’s red sigils started to appear around Husk as he neared the door. Husk knocked and waited. Nothing. He was halfway out of the garden when he heard a crrreeeaaakk.   
Husk slowly turned around to see Alastor, stood in the doorway. His smile was small and forced, his eyes were on the ground and he held one arm over the other. His ears may have also been slightly drooped. He had taken off his gloves and coat and his face was slightly wet.   
Husk made to walk up the garden and all of Alastor’s attempted look of control seeped away, leaving him to look ashamed of himself. By the Sun and the Moon, he really has having a hard time with all of this. First, a reminder of his traumatic death and then for a dog to come to the hotel.  
They sat on Alastor’s couch, a metre between them. The state of his house would have busied Niffty for a century. Even now, Alastor was subconsciously clawing at the couch in his badly hidden distress. Husk could see now that Alastor’s clothes were bedraggled and even torn in a few places. His hair was all over the place and his monocle was askew.   
The room was embedded in an intense, choking silence. Until Husk broke it, of course.  
“Shall we go and clean you up?”  
Alastor nodded. Husk was right- this was bad: he still wasn’t talking. He wasn’t making a sound at all and that was the worst of signs.  
Husk led Alastor up the stairs by the hand and to the bathroom. Husk tied Alastor’s hair out of his face and took the monocle away, put it in the cabinet above the sink. He then cleaned Alastor’s face properly- instead of just splashing it. Taking Alastor to the bedroom, he told him to put some comfortable clothes on, shutting the door behind Alastor.   
Alastor came out with his (unsurprisingly) red pyjamas on, making a fed up “will this do?” gesture. He wasn’t even bothering to smile because he knew Husk could see right through the mask of control. When Husk smirked at the expression, so did Al.   
It was around 6pm and they were sat on Alastor’s couch again, however, this time they were huddled together, Al stroking Husk’s shoulder fur and Husk rubbing Al’s arm comfortingly. After 15 minutes, Alastor whispered a soft, small yet heavy thank you.  
“Hey, no worries. You need it and I will always be here for you.”  
“I did very well on my own, I’ll have you know,” Alastor retorted, a smirk across his face.  
“Yeah right, now you’re just arguing for the sake of it,” Husk said, smirking and letting out a small laugh. He was especially pleased when Alastor laughed back.  
“Yes, I suppose I am.”  
The laugh track that followed made Husk laugh harder, causing Alastor to as well.  
“Well, I think I am quite ready to return to the hotel,” Alastor finally said, standing up. Husk didn’t notice that Alastor said quietly afterwards, “I hope.” He clicked his fingers, his usual attire returned.   
“Sure, just let me make a quick phone call first,” Husk replied, pointing to the telephone on the cabinet. Alastor nodded but tilted his head in confusion once Husker’s back had turned. He supposed maybe he was just informing Rosie of this year’s turnout. Just the usual, yet excruciatingly embarrassing, report.   
Alastor turned around and tuned out- he didn’t want to hear how stupid and weak he may seem. Instead, he started to tidy up the shredded mess he had left all over the floor- feeling his ears drop and his face flush red.  
When they got back to the hotel, the Sun was setting. Alastor reached for the door handle, but then hesitated. He shook it off though, it’s not like this was one of the dogs from that night in 1933- that was nearly a century ago. Little did he know, that the phone call Husk had made earlier was not to Rosie, but to Niffty, who was returning from carrying a box back into town.  
The rest of the evening ran smoothly: Husk and Alastor spent time together at the bar- even Angel was there! Of course Charlie and Vaggie had asked what had happened but when Husk gave them a “come on, you know why” look, they knew instantly and smiled sympathetically to the now quite tipsy Radio Demon. Husk had phoned Rosie eventually, but not before he had to carry the giggling Alastor up to bed before he humiliated himself by looking like Bambi on the ice.


End file.
